A lot of water has flowed under the bridge since Alexander Graham Bell pronounced the words, “Mr Watson—Come here—I want to see you”. Watson, listening at the receiving end in an adjoining room, heard the words clearly. The calendar marked March 10, 1876. Ironically, Bell never thought much about his invention. In fact it bothered him. He thought the invention was an interruption to this scientific work and refused to have a telephone in his study.
More than 135 years later, we still have the telephone alive, albeit it has changed dramatically to Bell’s original phone. Apple’s iPhone is light years ahead of the Bell’s primitive telephone. Today’s phones are more than communications gadgets; in fact, they are diminutive computers, yet very powerful.
At Mi Pueblito, I found a room displaying telephones used at the turn of the century. Some of them were exactly like the ones we had in our home in Changuinola. They were large, bulky and black. However the clarity of the communication was excellent. It was nice to see that somebody had taken care of these historic relics.
Now let’s plunge into the history pond and splash ourselves with the technological inventions of yesterday. Here we go.
Snapshot of an old desk with several telephones used during the forties and fifties. I recall we had a bulky black telephone set exactly like the one on the desk (right). Take notice of the antique telegraph set towards the left of the picture. Photo ©Omar Upegui R.
Snapshot of an old telephone switchboard and a wooden wall telephone set. I used these wooden telephones when I lived in Changuinola. Photo ©Omar Upegui R.
Snapshot of a telegraph accessory and a very old telephone set used at the turn of the century. Photo ©Omar Upegui R.
Snapshot of an old wall wooden telephone similar to the ones used by the United Fruit Company in Bocas del Toro. Photo ©Omar Upegui R.
Snapshot of a venerable wooden phone of yesteryear. It brought many memories of my youth in Changuinola. Photo ©Omar Upegui R.
Me recuercdo el tiempo cuando estos estaban en uso. Eso es porque se presentan muchas viejos peliculas en nuestra television. Sí, iphone o Nokia móviles nos presentan una temporada de la que no podíamos soñar hace algunos años.
Hola Sartenada:
Me fascina observar cómo avanza la tecnología. Yo tengo un teléfono Chino imitación del iPhone. Tiene radio FM, televisión, calendario, cronómetro, dos cámaras, MP3 y muchímas cosas más. Comparado con el teléfono de Bell, parece cosa de brujería.
Saludos,
Omar.-
Graciar Omar. Mi Nokia (móvil finlandés) E7 tienen esos todos, claro que si, pero lo que me gusta más es WEB radio con miles de emisoras de radio del todo del mundo y además esos WEB TV. De tu tierra no hay emosoras de TV, pero la más cercana es desde Nicaraqua la estacíon “Televicentro”.
Los móviles de hoy son marvillosas máquinas o digamos mejor “pequeñas computadoras”.
¡Buen fin de semana!
Hola Sartenada:
Mi celular no tiene Web radio o Web TV, pero sí los tengo en mi computadora de escritorio. Mientras escribo estas líneas estoy viendo la ceremonia de bodas en Londres. Me pareció fabulosa. La tradición de ese país es increíble.
Igual, que disfrute el fin de semana,
Omar.-
The black desk telephone is very much like the one I grew up with. The first I remember had no dial – you picked up the receiver and a lady asked, “Number, please?”
I still remember our phone number – it was 1906. And once in a while, I’d place a call at my grandmother’s house to one of my little friends. One day I called a girl to see if she could come over to play. When I spoke the number, the operator said, “She’s gone to town with her mother, and won’t be home until this afternoon.”
My goodness! And we worry about privacy today!
Hello Linda:
I also recall the telephone operators used in the good old days. They knew everything about what was going on in the community. His name was Kenneth, and he was the most polite and courteous person I have ever known. After more than 14 years listening to the deep bass voice, I never met him personally.
Regards,
Omar.-